ElutiMed

ElutiMed, Inc. is a Delaware corporation based in Tampa, Florida. ElutiGLASS is licensed from Tulane University. ElutiMed also holds an option from the University of South Florida on two USF technologies. ElutiMed is developing ElutiGLASS, an investigational dissolving film designed to deliver two anti-scarring drugs from one piece placed during glaucoma surgery.

Team
Research origins
Questions

Team

Ramesh S. Ayyala, MD

Founder

Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at the USF Morsani College of Medicine since 2018. He holds the James & Heather Gills Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and directs its glaucoma fellowship.
Developed the film while on the faculty of Tulane University, and a co-inventor on both US patents.
Senior author of the 2006, 2009, 2015 and 2019 studies.
An editor of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine in Ophthalmology, third edition (Elsevier, 2026).

USF faculty profile

Diana Shapiro

Chief Business Officer

More than 23 years building companies, about a decade of it turning university research into businesses.
Founder of C-Suite Partners, which helps scientists turn their inventions and discoveries into companies, or license them.
Formerly CEO of Dynam.AI, an enterprise AI company, and COO of PeakLogic, a neurotechnology company.
An NSF I-Corps Fellow (2025), with a business degree from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

LinkedIn C-Suite Partners

Portraits: USF and LinkedIn. Roles as listed by the company. Diana Shapiro’s background as she describes it on csuitep.com.

ElutiMed on LinkedIn

Research origins

ElutiGLASS is licensed from Tulane University.

Tulane University

The earliest of the six papers came out in 2006. Its authors were Ramesh Ayyala, Diane Blake, Vijay John and colleagues at Tulane, in New Orleans. Both rabbit studies were carried out there.

University of South Florida

Dr. Ayyala now chairs ophthalmology at the USF Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, where ElutiMed is based.

Common questions

Is ElutiGLASS approved by the FDA?

No. ElutiGLASS is an investigational device. It isn’t approved by the FDA and isn’t available for sale.

Has ElutiGLASS been studied in people?

Not yet. All results to date come from rabbit and laboratory studies, and ClinicalTrials.gov lists no study of the device. The evidence page sets out what each study found.

What is PLGA?

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), a copolymer used in absorbable medical materials. In water it slowly breaks down into lactic and glycolic acid.

Why two drugs?

Mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil both slow the growth of the fibroblasts that form scar tissue. The film is designed to release mitomycin C within the first day and 5-FU over the following weeks.

Which procedures is it designed for?

Trabeculectomy and glaucoma drainage devices, both studied in rabbits. The company also lists shunts and microshunts, which haven’t been studied (see where the film is placed).

Can a patient get ElutiGLASS?

No. It isn’t available to patients, and ElutiMed can’t give medical advice. Questions about glaucoma surgery are best taken to an eye surgeon.

Contact ElutiMed